City of Baltimore Annual Water Quality Report

[Pages:4]City of Baltimore Annual Water Quality Report

Baltimore City Department of Public Works

Reporting Period: January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017

What Happens When a Water Main Breaks?

Important Health Information

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) has started work to cover a considerable portion of the iconic Druid Lake Reservoir and install two huge underground water tanks. The $140 million project will be completed in early 2022.

Water systems that store finished drinking water in uncovered reservoirs are now required by the Safe Drinking Water Act to be protected from potential environmental contaminants. In addition to the Druid Lake finishedwater reservoirs, the City's water system also includes Guilford Reservoir and Lake Ashburton.

Guilford Reservoir is being converted to underground tanks and will be extensively landscaped by mid-2019. Druid and Ashburton will remain as lakes but will no longer be used as drinking water storage facilities; buried tanks will serve that purpose. The Towson Reservoir tanks are complete and Montebello Filtration Plant II Reservoir tanks are in service.

Baltimore's drinking water meets or exceeds all federal drinking water standards. However, an uncovered reservoir used to store treated drinking water can be susceptible to contamination from animals, such as birds or insects. Inadequately treated water may contain disease-causing organisms including bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can result in such symptoms as nausea, cramps, diarrhea, and associated headaches.

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When a water main breaks, the Baltimore City Department of Public Works' (DPW) key priority is to restore water to homes and businesses experiencing service outages. Although water main breaks happen throughout the year, the winter months can be especially hard on infrastructure. During this past winter's "Big Freeze" (Dec. 24, 2017, to Jan. 23, 2018), DPW responded to 559 confirmed water main breaks. That is roughly half the number of all water main breaks in 2017.

Baltimore City, along with neighboring Baltimore County, has taken proactive steps to upgrade its water infrastructure, replacing and rehabilitating 15 miles of mains annually. This accelerated program will rehabilitate all of the 1,500 miles of water mains in the City on a 100-year schedule.

What Causes Water Main Breaks?

Water mains break due to a variety of factors, especially freezing and thawing conditions that can cause the ground to shift and put stress on the pipes. In addition, a history of previous breaks, pipe corrosion, soil conditions, and age contribute to water main breaks.

What does the Water Main Repair Process Involve?

1.Report water main breaks and other water emergencies to 311 (phone, mobile app, online). Baltimore County customers call (410) 3965352.

2.A DPW inspector will be dispatched to confirm the break.

3.The water main valve will be located and turned off to cut off the flow of water.

4.Utility lines are identified and marked.

5.Broken pipe section is located, dug up and repaired or replaced.

6.Excavation site is filled in and roads are repaved.

To keep the public informed, DPW recently launched an Interactive Map that shows up-to-date information on water main repair activity.

The interactive map is available on the DPW website: . .

What Should I Do if I am Affected by a Water Main Break?

Once service is restored, customers who have lost water service should allow water to run through a sink or tub faucet, until it is clear. DPW will also open fire hydrants to clear the water lines.

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Baltimore City Water Quality Report

BALTIMORE CITY WATER QUALITY REPORT FOR 2017

In the year 2017, the City performed approximately 150,000 water quality analyses as part of a continuous effort to assure the water you drink meets or exceeds regulatory standards. The water is analyzed for over 90 different drinking water contaminants. A summary of the finished water quality results is provided below. The data represents the most recent testing done in accordance with the requirements of EPA's Water Testing Regulations and were the only regulated substances found in your drinking water. Baltimore City's excellent drinking water meets or exceeds all these standards.

TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS -- What They Mean in Plain English

Term / Abbreviation Definition

PPM

Parts per million

PPB

Parts per billion

HLD

Highest Level Detected

MCL

Maximum Contaminant Level

MCLG

Maximum Contaminant Level Goal

NTU

Nephelometric

Turbidity Units

AL

Action Level

TT

Treatment Technique

pCi/L TURBIDITY

TOTAL/FECAL COLIFORMS

picoCuries per Liter

Relates to a condition where suspended particles are present in the water.

Indicator Bacteria

MRDL

Maximum Residual Disinfectant Level

What it Means

1 ppm is the same as one drop in 10 gallons of water.

1 ppb is the same as one drop in 10,000 gallons of water.

Same as defined.

The highest level of a contaminant allowed by health regulations established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Health related goals. The MCL is set as close to this "goal" as possible but with consideration to achievability and cost.

Units of measurement used to report the level of turbidity or "cloudiness" in the water.

If the "Action Level" for a particular contaminant is exceeded, a response that may include additional treatment steps and/or public education may have to be initiated by the water system.

A "Treatment Technique" is a required process that is intended to reduce the amount of a specific contaminant in drinking water.

A measure of the level of radioactivity in the water.

Turbidity measurements are a way to describe the level of "cloudiness" of the water.

Type of bacteriological tests routinely used to determine if contamination has occurred in a drinking water system.

Disinfectant level beyond which some people may experience irritating effects. Based on running annual average of monthly averages of distribution system samples computed quarterly.

MICROBIOLOGICAL CONTAMINANTS

SUBSTANCE

MCLG MCL

ASHBURTON PLANT

TOTAL COLIFORMS

0

The presence of coliform bacteria in more than 5% of monthly samples will exceed the MCL.

Highest monthly percentage of positive samples: 1.17%*

*Not a violation. All repeat samples were negative.

FECAL COLIFORMS

0

and E. COLI

A routine sample and a repeat sample are total coliform positive, and one is also fecal coliform or E. Coli positive.

Highest monthly percentage of positive samples: 0%

MONTEBELLO PLANTS

Highest monthly percentage of positive samples: 1.17%*

*Not a violation. All repeat samples were negative.

Highest monthly percentage of positive samples: 0%

MAJOR SOURCES Naturally present in the environment.

Human and animal fecal waste.

TURBIDITY

SUBSTANCE TURBIDITY1

MCLG None

MCL

Treatment Technique (TT)

ASHBURTON PLANT

HLD

LOWEST %

MONTEBELLO PLANTS

HLD

LOWEST %

MAJOR SOURCES Soil run-off.

Filtration

0.09 NTU

100

0.22 NTU

100

1. Turbidity cannot exceed 1 NTU and must be less than or equal to 0.3 NTU in at least 95% of measurements taken each month. Lowest % is the lowest percentage of monthly filtered water turbidity samples less than 0.3 NTU.

ARSENIC RESULTS SUBSTANCE MCL

ARSENIC

0.010 ppm

ASHBURTON PLANT ................
................

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